


you have my nose, i have your smile; on our faces we are still together

by TheFlirtMeister



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Twins, F/M, Sibling Incest, Twincest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 18:10:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13082427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFlirtMeister/pseuds/TheFlirtMeister
Summary: “We were never like that.” Leia says, and if she was a sentimental woman, she would rest her head on Luke’s shoulder, reminisce about the past with him. Instead she stands at the window, watching the people move about outside like tiny playing pieces.“In the twin’s defence,” Luke says, a smile playing at his lips, “We were never brought up together.”Twin AU





	you have my nose, i have your smile; on our faces we are still together

**Author's Note:**

> hello!!! warnings for obvious reylo and twincest!! is it even a skywalker family if siblings aren't making out, i mean, honestly???

The screaming is the second thing that wakes Rey that night. The first is Ben, but she’ll dwell on that later, when she’s figured out what’s going on. Rey opens her eyes, sticky with sleep and tears, and blinks, forehead burning at the bright lights of her bedroom. She knows the lights were off when she fell asleep, so what’s happened?

Someone screams outside her bedroom. Rey throws the covers off the bed, shoving her feet into her slippers, and hauls herself out of bed. She’s still wearing her nightgown, there’s no time to change, and she throws open her bedroom door to see the base in chaos.

People are crying and screaming, grief and shock written on faces with blotched ink. Rey gasps at them all, at the waves of sadness rolling off them, and then pushes her sweat drenched hair from her face.

“What’s happened?” She asks the first person who brushes past her. “What’s going on?”

The person, green skin, pointed black teeth, spits at her. It’s so violent that Rey doesn’t know what to do, blinking at the woman as drool slides down her cheek.

“What-“ She tries to ask, and the woman barges past her, hitting Rey roughly on the shoulder.

Rey spins around, and realises that people are staring at her. She raises her hand, wiping the spit from her skin, and then rubs her hand on her shirt. She reaches out with the Force, and realises the people are angry, angry with hate. Hate towards her. Hate towards Ben.

Rey sets her jaw in line and sets off to find her mother.

General Organa is standing in the centre of the War Room, dressed in full military gear. Rey knocks before entering, but her mother doesn’t turn around, staring determinedly at a holo of her favourite pilot, Poe Dameron. The holo quality is blurry, jumping about, and at first Rey thinks it’s old footage, till she notices the flashing sign that signals that it’s live.

“Bodies everywhere,” Poe says, voice thick, “No sign of him General.”

Her mother’s back is bowed, and her shirt is buttoned up wrong. Rey can’t see her face.

“Are you sure?” General Organa asks, and her voice is quiet.

“I’m sure.” Poe says, and then catches sight of Rey. “General. A visitor.”

General Organa spins round, and Rey gasps. Her mother’s eyes are wet with tears, and she seems to have aged years overnight. Rey has never seen her look like this before, so unprofessional. Even when she and Ben used to climb into their parent’s bed in the morning, her mother always seemed fresh faced, rolling her eyes as Rey and Ben argued over who got to lay next to her.

“Mom?” Rey asks, and her voice is that of a little girl. “What’s going on?”

“Go back to sleep Rey.”

“No.” Rey says, and this time her voice is stronger. “What’s happening? People are crying- Someone spat at me!”

General Organa closes her eyes and then opens them again. “It’s Ben.” She says.

“Ben?” Rey asks, and automatically reaches out for him with the Force.

The block she hits almost rockets her backwards, clinical and cold and unfeeling. It’s a solid wall built up to block her out, methodical and cruel. Somehow though, if she could hear Ben’s voice, his scream of _GET OUT OF MY HEAD_ , would be so much less painful.

Poe coughs quietly, and her mother spins back around to receive him. Rey realises that there’s wailing on Poe’s side of the hologram too, although she cannot look behind him and see the destruction.

“There are no survivors.” Poe says, “General, I-“

General Organa holds up her hand to stop him. “Please. Let’s not mince words.”

“Someone please tell me what’s going on!” Rey bursts out. “He’s my brother!”

Something changes in Poe Dameron’s face, and he looks at her dead in the eye. Suddenly he is not the older boy who teased her and Ben at visits, who taught her how to sew Rebellion patches onto her jackets.

“Your brother just massacred the entire Jedi school.” Poe says, and the bile in his voice makes Rey sway where she stands. “He’s joined the First Order.”

Rey thinks of her twin’s face, of _Ben’s_ face, and vomits up onto the floor.

*

The twins are born on a planet that doesn’t even have a name. Leia knew it was a risk to travel whilst pregnant, but a senator does what is needed for her people. This is how she finds herself in the middle of a forest, Luke anxiously bouncing on his feet a little way away, as she delivers not one, but two babies.

“Here,” She snaps to Luke. Her bottom lip is bitten straight through, blood drying scratchy on her chin. “Hold one.”

“Are you sure?” Luke asks. His hair is going grey, but he still acts like the nervous young man who dressed up as a Stormtrooper to rescue her.

“Yes.” Leia says, and Luke holds the baby girl, who is screaming her head off. The boy is quieter, but still wails, fists clenched.

“I’m an uncle.” Luke says with wonder, staring down at his niece, who is going an ugly red colour. And then, “Han’s a father!”

“That he is.” Leia says through gritted teeth, bouncing the boy to try and make him stop. “And never will be again, _Christ_.”

Luke laughs, and then wiggles his finger into the girl’s own palm. She clenches it tightly, still screaming. “I guess twins run in the family then?”

“I guess.” Leia is considering pulling up her shirt to feed the boy. Perhaps a nipple will quiet him.

“She has your temper.” Luke says, and then steps closer, bringing the babies closer together. “Here little one. Here he is.”

The girl twists her head to look at her brother. The boy squirms to look at his sister. And they both, at once, stop crying.

Luke and Leia look at one another, Leia weary, and Luke radiating joy. Luke grins at her, and Leia can’t help but grin back, until it bubbles out of her, and she snorts with delight.

“You’re amazing.” Luke tells her.

“I knew that already.” She reminds him, and then they’re laughing again, the babies scowling as they’re jostled.

*

The boy is named Ben after Obi Wan Kenobi, mainly because Luke insists, and Han likes the name.

“It’s solid.” He says, tossing the baby up in the air like it’s a football and not a human child. “Three letters. Can’t go wrong with that.”

“So much went wrong with you.” Leia says, sighing. “Also, please don’t drop our child.”

“I won’t.” Han says, tucking Ben underneath his arm. “Will I? No, I won’t!”

The girl is named Rey, mainly to go with the three-letter naming convention, and also because she is Leia’s ray of light and joy.

“You’re perfect.” Leia tells Rey as she strokes a finger down from the baby’s forehead to her chin. “Completely perfect.”

Rey drools happily, fists star fishing in the air to try and catch hold of Leia’s hand. She is a chubby baby, the best kind, and Leia wishes she could eat her all up.

“Don’t have favourites.” Han warns, from where he is bouncing Ben on his knee. They are both wearing matching shirts, and Leia raises an eyebrow. “What?”

Later, someone will comment on how Leia’s twins are named after her only rays of hope, and Leia will laugh and say that it was deliberate. It was not deliberate.

*

The twins go strong and fast, and refuse to be separated from one another. Ben will screech with horror if Rey is taken from his presence for more than a minute, and Rey will scream if she cannot see her brother.

“We should tape them together.” Han suggests hopefully, the noise of the twins wails still echoing in his ears. “Then they’ll stop screaming.”

The two of them are leaning against one another, staring down into the twin’s crib. Or at least, it was originally Rey’s crib, but Ben had refused to sleep without her, so now he’s been dumped in alongside her. They’re both fast asleep, curled up back to back, smelling milk-soft.

“Maybe.” Leia says, because she’s so bone achingly tired. “Oh god, did I just agree to that?”

“Yup.” Han leans across and kisses her forehead. “You just did Princess.”

“Fuck.” Leia says, and Han laughs so loudly that Leia has to kiss him to shut him up. Or at least, that’s what she tells herself.

*

The twins are three when Leia discovers they have the Force. They’re crawling around at her feet as she reads over notes from a senator meeting, when she realises she can hear talking. It’s very faint, at the first, she thinks a hologram is talking to her, and she starts moving papers about on the desk to try and find it.

_Friend_

_Friend_

_Play_

_Love_

_Play!_

_Love!_

Leia ducks her head underneath the desk to see the twins are staring at each other intently. Rey is chewing on her fat fist, and Ben is trying to fit his foot into his mouth. Leia smiles at them both, and they turn to look at her with identical drooly grins.

_Mummy_

_Soft_

_Kind_

_Love_

_Milk_

_Mummy!_

Leia blinks. She can hear them, but it’s clear that they can also hear each other too. Which means that there’s another set of twins in the galaxy with the Force.

“Shit.” She says, and Ben reaches out towards her lovingly.

*

“I wish you could look inside their heads.” Han grumbles, after the twins mastermind a plot to slip out of Threepio’s watchful eye. They were found in the library, curled up on a window seat together, reading a picture book about Jedi legends.

Leia rolls her eyes. “I can’t break into their heads, that would be wrong.”

“You could figure out what they were up to.” Han says, “God, I’d love to see what they were thinking about half the time.”

Leia reaches up and touches the necklace around her neck. It’s a moon, split in two, representing the twins. It used to have a pattern on it, but Leia had rubbed it soon with worry before Ben and Rey’s fifth birthday.

The problem is, she can see into their heads. The two of them are only little, they haven’t yet worked out how to put up barriers to protect themselves from the Force. She can’t hear coherent thoughts, only snippets of feelings and ideas.

What worries her, is the amount of love that pours out of them. It practically screams from their minds, a constant barrage of love and comfort that is only aimed at each other. Leia will sometimes walk into a room the twins are in and must take a step back, as their thoughts are so loud.

_ILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOUDON’TLEAVEMEILOVEYOUILOVEYOUBENREYBENREYBENREYREN_

“What’s the matter?” Han asks, noticing Leia’s discomfort. “What have I done?”

“Nothing.” Leia says, and reaches out for her husband’s hand, dropping the necklace. “Nothing at all.”

*

Ben and Rey come in from playing, Rey with dirt smeared across her face, and Ben with a split lip. He keeps licking at it, worrying at the wound, and Leia sighs and grabs hold of him by the jaw and scrubs at him with her sleeve.

“Who did this to you?” She demands, and Ben’s eyes flick over to Rey even though he stays silent. “Rey?”

Rey looks up from where she has stolen a pear from the fruit bowl on the desk and is massacring it with her sharp teeth. Juice trickles down her chin. “ _Wha_?”

“Did you hit your brother?” Leia asks, and Ben cringes in her hand.

“No.” Rey says, chewing like a cow.

“Then why is he bleeding?”

“I threw a rock at him.”

“I don’t mind.” Ben says, trying to wheedle out of her grasp. “It didn’t hurt.”

“You cried.” Rey says triumphantly, and Leia looks from one twin to the other.

“I’m going to murder you both.” She says, and Rey giggles.

“No you’re not!” She says in a sing-song voice, and then dances over to her mother, flinging her arms around her. Juice rubs against Leia’s shirt, but she finds she doesn’t mind. “You love us!”

“Do I?” Leia asks, and Rey and Ben both nod.

“You have to love us.” Ben says, “You’re our mom.”

“You’re both adopted.” Leia says wearily, and Ben and Rey laugh with pointed teeth.

*

“Talk to your son.” Leia says a couple of months later. The twins are playing together in the gardens, Han and Leia walking behind them, arm in arm.

“About what?” Han asks, oblivious to the fact that his daughter is poking her brother with a sharp stick.

“About,” Leia motions towards the twins. “The fact that he can hit her back. Or poke her back.”

“You keep telling them not to be violent.”

“I know, but I want Ben to stand up for himself.” Leia says, just as Ben wails and comes running. “What’s wrong sweetheart?”

“I hurt myself.” Ben says through sniffles, lifting his arm to reveal a scratch.

“Rey!” Leia says sharply, and her daughter disappears quickly. “Come back here!”

She lets go of Han and stalks off after Rey, who is screeching with the excitement of being caught, and the fear of it.

“It wasn’t Rey.” Ben says, rubbing his cheek against Han’s knee. “I did it.”

“Ben, we saw it happen.” Han says, “She was hurting you.”

“No she wasn’t.”

 “You know, you can stand up to her son.” Han says, and Ben’s face does something funny, like Han has suggested something unthinkable.

“I don’t want to stand up to her.” He says, “I don’t mind.”

“But-“ Han starts, and then there’s a shout as Leia grabs hold of Rey from wherever she’s hiding. “Your sister’s been caught.”

“Poor Rey.” Ben says, and Han sighs, running his hands through his greying hair.

“Poor parents.” He says, and wishes for a drink.

*

The twins are 9 when they’re kicked out of school. Leia is disappointed but not surprised, when she looks into her children’s faces, she sees her own staring back. Right now, her children are standing in her study, in their ruined school uniform, with not one hint of guilt.

“Fighting is wrong.” Leia starts, and Ben is the first to speak.

“They hit first!”

“I don’t care if they hit first.” Leia says, “You shouldn’t hit back.”

“You’re a terrible General if you don’t retaliate.” Rey says, and Leia gives her a look that can even make Artoo wilt. Her daughter stares her down instead, and Leia rubs her temples.

The twins had vanished from class, and were found by fellow schoolmates in a tree, cuddled up together and talking. Rocks had been thrown to get them down. The twins had brought a branch down on their heads. Injuries all around, and Leia’s reputation as a good mother on the line.

“I think you two need to be split up.” She says, and Rey and Ben clutch each other’s arms.

“You can’t do that!” Ben says, eyes fiery, “You can’t split us up!”

“We promise to be good!” Rey says, lying through her teeth, “I promise, please!”

Leia looks at her children, at their white knuckled grip. “It would be for the best.” She says, and her coffee mug explodes on her desk.

“Exactly my point.” She says, and the twins howl.

*

Ben is to become a Jedi under Luke’s training, and Rey is to become a senator under her mother’s watchful eye. Leia can see that there is painful good in her children, and she wishes to pull it from them, like blood from stone.

There is a tearful farewell from the entire family, Ben and Rey crying the most as they’re separated. Ben is wearing Jedi robes already, and Rey is wearing a dress that was once Leia’s. They hug each other tightly, foreheads pressed into the other’s neck, and Leia can feel the love and pain rolling off them.

“Alright.” She says, “Time for Ben to leave.”

Luke rests a robotic hand on Ben’s head, who tries to shrug it away. Leia sighs, taking hold of Rey and gently tugs her away, pulling her close instead.

“You’ll see him soon.” She promises, and silent tears slide down Rey’s face.

“Not soon enough.” She says, and Ben hiccups.

“I’ll miss you.” He says.

“We’ll miss you too.” Han says, voice thick. “So much.”

“Don’t forget me.” Rey says, a little desperate, and Ben shakes his head.

“Never.” He says, and taps his forehead. “I’m here.”

Rey repeats the gesture, still crying, and Leia wonders if this is the right thing to do.

*

The twins finally see each other after sixth months apart, running into each other’s arms and completely knocking the other one over.

“Your hair!” Rey shrieks, pulling on the braid a little too sharply, but Ben only beams up at her.

“Do you like it?” He asks, and Rey shakes her head.

“No!” She says, delighted, and hugs him so tight that Leia is worried that the poor boy can’t breathe.”

Han wraps his arms around Leia, kissing her on the cheek. “God, look at them.” He says, proud.

“I know.” Leia says, “Ridiculous.”

Han laughs, squeezing her tightly. “Ever think about having more-“

“No.” Leia says firmly, just as Rey plants a kiss on her brother’s forehead. “No more.”

“But we can still try.” Han says slyly, and Leia gives a gasp of outraged laughter, and elbows him hard.

“Menace.” She says, and tilts her head to kiss the smirk from him.

*

Rey comes storming into Leia’s office, hair flying out around her face like snakes. She is thirteen, and full of so much anger that Leia could weep for her. “You can’t do this!”

Leia is in the middle of a meeting with several senators from other planets, and turns icily towards her daughter. “Rey, I am in the middle of something-“

“You can’t stop me from seeing him!” Rey slams her hand down onto the desk. “I don’t care about the Jedi rules, you can’t-“

“Rey, we will talk about this later.” Leia hisses, and Rey glares.

“We will talk about this now.” She says, and then turns towards the other senators. “Do you know she’s refusing to let me see my brother?”

The senators twist in their seats, uncomfortable by this sudden outburst of family dynamic. Senator Organa has always kept family and politics separate, to the point that some people don’t even realise that she is married with children.

“The Jedi keep separate from non-Jedi.” Leia starts, and Rey finishes.

“I could have been a Jedi!” She says, “I have the Force!”

“He has a different path from you-“

“Just because you were separated from Luke, doesn’t mean to you have to separate me from Ben!” Rey says, her voice wavering. There’s a beat of silence, and then a sob chokes its way out of Rey, and she spins on her heels, fleeing the room.

A senator coughs. Leia runs her hands through her hair, and then tucks a loose strand neatly behind her ears.

“Well then,” She says, “Excuse that minor interruption. Where were we?”

*

Luke brings Ben home a year later for Life Day. Ben has shot up several inches, and his braid reaches his shoulder, like one spindly ponytail. From a distance he seems stern and stoic, and then he catches sight of his sister.

Rey, who had been walking alongside Leia and Han, drops everything onto the floor. Ben copies this action, his lightsabre falling from his grasp and clattering onto the ground below. They run at each other, and Ben catches Rey at the last moment, spinning her around and around as objects go haywire around them.

“They still haven’t learnt to control the Force.” Leia says, chewing on her bottom lip.

“Ah, they’re young.” Han says, and Luke gently moves past the twins to greet his own.

“I’ve missed you.” He says to Leia, and then turns to grin at Han. “You look older.”

“Fuck you.” Han says and pulls Luke into a hug. “I hate your beard.”

“It’s truly awful.” Leia agrees, joining the hug also.

She knows she shouldn’t, but she looks over her brother’s shoulder to watch the twins. Ben’s mouth is on Rey’s cheek. She shudders, and closes her eyes so she doesn’t have to watch them.

*

Leia meets Luke in her private quarters that look out over the city. She is anxious about the twins, and she can’t confide in Han. She hasn’t confided in Han for a long time. Luke is her next best option.

Luke brings expensive wine that was once a present from Lando, and a grin that is much too cheery.

“Don’t look so sour Leia,” He says, pouring her a glass, “It’s Life Day!”

“Ugh.” Leia says, and takes the glass from his hands. “We need to talk about the twins. Seriously.”

“Ben’s progress is remarkable.” Luke says, “You should be very proud.”

“I am.” Leia says, “We are.”

They clink glasses and then each take a long drink. The wine will go straight to Leia’s head, and she knows it.

“How is Rey?” Luke asks politely.

“Loud. Brass.” Leia says, “She’s like me, but taller.”

Luke laughs. “She’ll be a perfect senator.”

“I know.” Leia says, and walks to the window. She wonders what it would have been like to watch Ben and Rey’s reunion from up here. Without an audience, what would they have done?

“I’m worried about them.” She says.

“I know.” Luke replies. “You shouldn’t be. They’re only children.”

“We were never like that.” Leia says, and if she was a sentimental woman, she would rest her head on Luke’s shoulder, reminisce about the past with him. Instead she stands at the window, watching the people move about outside like tiny playing pieces.

“In the twin’s defence,” Luke says, a smile playing at his lips, “We were never brought up together.”

Leia takes another sip of wine. “But they are.” She says, “They know they’re siblings, and still, I look into their heads and all I can see is love for each other.”

“We kissed once.” Luke says, and Leia turns.

“That’s not the point and you know it.” She says, and balances her glass in the air with the Force. “Luke. What are we going to do?”

“We wait.” Luke says, and moves to join her. “And we see.”

He kisses her forehead, and Leia holds him close.

*

“I come bearing gifts!” Poe announces, not bothering to knock before entering Leia’s private quarters. He’s carrying what looks like a large hamper, and Leia is immediately interested.

She’s sitting on the sofa, Han half asleep next to her but trying to arm wrestle Chewie over what program they’ll put on the holoscreen next. Leia knows that no matter who wins, she is going to pick the next program, but she enjoys watching the two of them fight. Rey is stretched out on the floor, tinkering with a droid that is affectionately known as _Pointy_.

“Gifts?” Han perks up, and Chewie takes the opportunity to wrestle his arm to the ground. “Hey, cheating!”

Chewie roars with amusement, and Leia shakes her head, standing to welcome Poe. He’s fast becoming her favourite person outside of her intermediate family, even though he is trying to sleep with her brother.

“What have you brought?” She asks, kissing him on the cheek, and Poe places the hamper on the floor.

“It’s from Luke!” He says, and Leia inwardly groans.

“You’ve been to the Academy?” Rey asks from the floor, suddenly interested. “Did you see Ben?”

“I did indeed see your snot nosed brother.” Poe says, reaching into the box and pulling out an envelope. “For you.”

“Ooh!” Rey snatches it from Poe’s hand, ripping it open.

“Manners.” Leia says, but knows she’s fighting a losing battle. “And for the rest of us?”

“Chocolates, alcohol, more chocolate, and some books.” Poe says, pulling each item out one by one.

Han takes the alcohol from Poe’s hand in the same manner that his daughter snatched away the envelope, and Leia could cheerfully kill them both.

“How is my brother?” Leia asks, and Poe looks up with a wicked grin on his face.

“Amazing.” He says, and Leia prods him in his fleshy parts.

“Awful.” She says, and looks over at her daughter. “What’s your letter about?”

“Nothing.” Rey says quickly, although her face is heated. “Just- Stuff.”

“Stuff?” Leia asks, and she goes to look inside Rey’s head but finds a block there. “Private stuff?”

“All my stuff is private.” Rey grumbles, but clutches the letter to her chest happily.

Leia finds she doesn’t want to know what Ben has written.

*

It is Leia that finds the twins together, because the universe hates the Skywalker’s. It’s Han’s birthday, and both twins have returned from their schooling to celebrate. Ben is even taller, and Rey is still the same, and they have spent most of their time arguing together about this.

Leia knows they’re hiding something. They’ve both blocked her off from their heads, not all the way, just enough that Leia cannot slip inside their thoughts like she’d like to. She wants to know why the sadness has crept into their hearts. Why they flinch when someone comes close.

Leia pushes her way into Rey’s bedroom to tell the twins that it’s time for dinner. They’re having something special for dinner, courtesy of Threepio, so it’s likely that they’re all end up with food poisoning of some kind. Leia is in fact coming to warn her children about the dangers of dinner, when she finds them.

The covers have been kicked off the bed, pooled on the floor. Ben is flat out on his back snoring, boxers so far down that Leia can see the v-line of his hips. Rey is curled up around him, completely naked, limbs entangled with Ben’s own.

Leia closes her eyes, and then opens them. The twins are still there, still asleep, so clearly blissed out with each other. She swallows hard, and for a split second, considers walking out and making a racket coming in again so that they’ll wake up, cover themselves. Maybe they can pretend that this never happened.

Rey rolls over sleepily, stretching out until her arms and legs click. Ben stirs in his sleep, reaching out for her and pulling her closer. Rey gives a laugh, and tilts her head to kiss him, open mouthed and loving.

Ben opens his eyes, blinking at the light. They’re crinkled, sleep in the corners. He looks to Rey, a dopey expression on his face, and then his gaze slides up towards the doorframe, catching sight of his mother.

They don’t speak. They don’t need to.

*

Ben is sent back to the Jedi academy. Rey is sent back to her senator duties. It is unspoken that the twins will never see each other again. Leia even refuses them a final goodbye, forcing Ben and Luke to leave just as quickly as they arrived.

“I hate you.” Rey says as she gets ready to go to the senate. Leia is brushing Rey’s hair, running an emerald comb through Rey’s long waves till the hair crackles.

“I know.” Leia says, wondering what hairstyle she should do for her daughter.

“I wish you were dead.” Rey continues, and Leia decides to create a three bun look, a tribute to herself and Rey’s grandmother.

“Of course you do.” Leia says, pressing a kiss to the back of Rey’s head. “I understand.”

“Do you?” Rey spits, and turns around to stare her mother down. “Do you _honestly_ understand?”

Leia thinks of Luke’s innocent happy face, his sun bleached hair, his chapped lips against her own.

“I do.” She says, looking directly into Rey’s eyes. “Rey, I do.”

They look at each other for a long time. Rey falters first, eyes darting to the ground. Leia cups Rey’s face in her hands, and pulls her close to kiss her on the nose. She has her father’s nose.

“I miss him.” Rey whispers.

“I miss him too.” Leia replies, just as soft.

They hold each other for a long, long, time.

*

Rey wakes in the night because she feels Ben’s presence in her room. She yawns loudly, and then sits upright, not bothering to cover herself with the duvet. Ben is standing at the foot of her bed, and Rey rubs her eyes to look at him more carefully.

“Is this a Force projection?” She asks, and Ben nods, before climbing on top of the bed.

His eyes are red rimmed, face all blotchy. Rey reaches out to him and cups his face between her hands. They stare at each other, before Rey breaks first, into a ridiculous smile. Ben smiles too, but his eyes are darting about all over the place.

“What’s wrong?” Rey asks.

“I-“ Ben says, and then ducks his head. “I can’t say.”

“Ben?” Rey asks carefully, and Ben rests his forehead against hers. He breathes out, and Rey can taste him in her mouth.

“I love you.” Ben says.

“I love you too.” Rey replies. “What’s going on?”

Ben doesn’t reply. Instead he kisses Rey, desperate and forceful. His teeth clack against Rey’s own, and she gasps out against his mouth, hands moving to his waist to squeeze lightly.

“I’m sorry.” Ben says, and pulls away. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Rey says, although she doesn’t know what’s happening. “It’s okay Ben. I’m here. I understand.”

She tries to reach out into his mind with the Force, but he waves her hand, diverting her away. Rey bites her lip, and then presses a kiss to his nose.

“Be careful.” She says.

“I will be.” He replies, and strokes her cheek with his knuckles. “Don’t look for me.”

“What?” Rey frowns, but Ben is already climbing off the bed. “Ben?”

“It’s not Ben anymore.” He says, and Rey bites her lip.

“Is- Is Snoke making you take a different name?”

They don’t talk about Snoke. He’s been in both their heads as long as they can remember, the bogyman underneath the bed, the voice whispering to them at night. Snoke encouraged the two of them together, told them two Skywalker’s would be a glorious union that would spread fire across the galaxy.

Rey can block him out better than Ben. Ben’s always been a follower, always liked to be told what to do. Rey is a leader, someone who makes the path instead of travelling it. They’re complete opposites, and perfect together at the same time.

“I don’t want to talk about this.” Ben says, standing in the doorway. His projection doesn’t cast a shadow, the only sign that he isn’t really there.

“Ben-“

“It’s not Ben.” He snaps, and Rey jolts in bed. They’ve never snapped at each other before like this.

“What is it then?” She asks, because she’ll humour him until the end.

“Kylo Ren.” Ben replies, and the two words send a shiver down Rey’s spine.

“Kylo Ren.” She repeats, and Ben smiles, a slow grin that spreads across his face like blood slick.

“That’s right.” He says, and his projection disappears as quickly as it arrives.

Rey sits there, staring at the space he’s left in the room, and then slips down under the covers, and falls back into a Snoke filled sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> don't like, don't comment! do like, feel free to comment!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] you have my nose, i have your smile; on our faces we are still together](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14741291) by [Azdaema Pods (Azdaema)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azdaema/pseuds/Azdaema%20Pods)




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